Are We At War?

dezeen.com

Of course not, you might say. Officially, I guess not. But I'm talking about another kind of war. A war that sees innocent people forgotten about and cartoonists who dedicate their lives to making caricatures of those they disagree with, make worldwide news. 12 cartoonists are shot, and everyone's Charlie Hebdo but not once is anyone raising their hand to say anything about any of the hundreds and thousands of deaths that are happening around the world to people who have never said a word against anyone. Yes, the deaths are tragic and the killing is completely unjust. Yes, it is upsetting. Yes, free speech is important. Yes, the fact that Paris is closer to home is likely to cause a larger outpour of 'sympathy' and 'outrage' but whatever the reason for such a huge response to the Paris attack and the complete lack of response to anything else, even if that reason may seem compelling with the addition of a hashtag and more followers... IT'S WRONG.

mirror.co.uk

And David Cameron, where does he stand on all of this? Well yesterday he marched side by side with 3.5million others demonstrating their strength of feeling towards free speech and today, he decided that actually, all of that was bollocks and instead he's going to ban whatsapp.

Britain is at a turning point in modern politics where the likes of Russell Brand drive more public interaction with the subject than any politician of our time. It's a time where Twitter drives votes and UKIP is the go-to party for voters who are bored with the way things are - but then at least they bother to turn out and vote in the first place. The leaders of the parties are exasperating ridiculous ways to win public adoration, with Cameron's latest threat of refusing to appear on television debates without the presence of the Green party, either a wonderful stab at appearing to be a just and equal opponent or a step towards the naughty corner when broadcasts go ahead without him. It doesn't matter how bigoted, how ignorant or how wonderful the education at Eton was... the point is, that something is wrong with British politics and if we don't start looking for alternative ways to fix it, we're in trouble.

theguardian.com

I don't pretend to have the answers to everything, or anything in fact but I think a good place to start is the voting system. Of course, it would help if we had candidates we actually WANTED to vote for, not just ones we prefer over all of the others. But our 65% voting turnout is shameful. Almost 100yrs ago women fought for the right to vote which also caused the voting age of men to be lowered too. People lost their lives in that fight and now, most can't be bothered. Call it disillusionment, but those who don't vote allow the room for votes towards radicalism to rise. So why does the option to vote online not exist, to make it easy for them? People have jobs to go to and no time to spend queueing in a polling station. Online votes need to happen soon - either that or election day is made a public holiday for us to cast our votes, or we are allowed to take time away from work without the threat of no pay - as in some US states (California). It's a suggestion, which is far better than our current system, in MY opinion. We need to make it easy for voters.

123rf.com

As I say, I don't have an answer for anything. But I see that there is a problem and I see the worth of free-speech more than ever. There are people around the world who hate the ways of the West and hate our politics. If I'm honest, I'm beginning to hate our politics too and banning whatsapp is certainly not the way to go about changing that. 1 in 6 of our population are over 65 and by 2050, that is predicted to rise to 1 in 4. Is this society the one we want to see our elderly relatives grow old in? The one that threatens the UK's position as a haven for those in need, for refugees and for asylum seekers. The one that values bigotry over equality. The one that will vote UKIP out of indecisiveness and naivety?

In my opinion, we are at war - with morality - and somewhere along the line, we have to start voting for it. We have to stop jumping on the bandwagon of the next Twitter hashtag and look around for other issues. Issues that we might ACTUALLY care about, might ACTUALLY rally to change and change people's minds in the process. Who knows, you MIGHT even solve it, someone's got to, coz it's not looking likely to be Cameron any time soon. After all, democracy means 'power belongs to the people', so let's remind our leaders just that...just a suggestion.

102 Minutes That Changed America

news.nationalgeographic.com

We've all seen footage of 9/11 and we've all probably seen it more than once. We've all been shocked at the images of the buildings, the second explosion, of the extensive fire and smoke on the upper floors, the falling debris and the collapse of the towers. In this documentary, it isn't just the same images you've already seen. It pieces together the story of the people, using their own footage from personal camcorders from all around the city. What touched me more than the images of the towers, was seeing the reaction of the everyday New Yorkers.

The film was produced by the History Channel and first broadcast commerical-free on the 7th anniversary of 9/11 in 2008. It is now a historical record of the minutes that took New York by surprise.

thetimes.co.uk

In the film we have access to footage of businessmen stopping in their tracks as they walk through Time Square and see the images on the screens, we see the devastation in their eyes and watch as a middle-aged lady struggles to run from the falling debris, crying in fear. It is angle we have not seen before and it shook me to the core. The worst for me was when the second plane hit the second tower, filmed from the NE side of town. Two girls are filming the first building from their apartment whilst on the phone to their mother and the second plane hits. The camera pans to the left to show the remainder of the blast as the engine fuel explodes and all we hear are the shrill screams of the girls as they cannot take in what has just happened. It is the sound of that genuine fear, the screams that really got me.

nerdylorin.net

Another powerful reaction is filmed from the NW side of town, in an apartment with a couple and their child. The mother has told her child to go to bed so she doesn't see whatever happens next and when her mother screams, she calls from her bedroom crying. Her mother makes up a lie about 'daddy deleting the tape on the camcorder' but quietly so her daughter cannot hear her, she cries. It's heartbreaking. 

It is incredible, the power of an entire city, stood still, simply watching, trying to compute what has happened. To watch so many, caught unaware on what began as a normal day. The footage we see shows the scenes from every angle and from in amongst the people who themselves are trying to figure out what has happened. We hear immediate reactions, see an outburst of violence, we hear anger, we see fear. We are shown what seems like every human emotion within the film's 102 minutes.

nationalgeographic.com

We see hundreds of people as they flee the city, we see residents of apartments crowding into lifts and sharing what they know, we hear people calling relatives, we see exhausted firemen arriving from all around New York to fight the fire, ambulances helping the injured, policeman recalled from their homes to help and watch as cars are left abandoned as the streets empty and become covered in dust and rubble.

thomasefranklin.com

The storytelling was brilliantly selected but the logistics of piecing together such a collage of personal accounts, video recordings, radio broadcasts, news reports, emergency radio communications...is one to marvel at, and edited together cleverly. The production keeps account of the scene down to the very second it unfolded as though we too are a part of the New York community shocked by what they see before them. I have never before been hit so hard by images of 9/11 and never before been touched by both the fear and anger and the courage and compassion of those who witnessed it. It was fantastically edited together by Seth Skundrick as it seamlessly moves from account to account, with recordings overlapping and phone calls and radio communications providing the reaction when the images are silent. Skundrick's work was recognised with Emmy awards to match. We cannot compliment the camera operators personaly but have to thank the American people who thought to record what has become a prominent moment in American History.

I can't say it's a documentary that I enjoyed, as I spent the majority of the first half in tears, but it is certainly an example for programming that follows similar events. A poignant film and one that is a must-watch if ever you wish to truly understand the impact that 9/11 had on everyday Americans and why the words of a US news reporter have never been so accurate 'It is the 9th September and you will not forget this day'.